Immortal Travel of Longevity

By noon, the curfew on the citizens of Qingshan City had lifted.

Even so, another half hour passed before people slowly dared to venture outside.

Qingshan City had suffered its share of hardships, and the older generation had long since learned from experience. Cautious, they stubbornly waited two sichen before stepping out. Only when they saw the peaceful streets did they breathe a sigh of relief.

That day, the patrons in the tea house chatted endlessly.

"I heard quite a few people died last night."

"The younger son of the Liu family told me he heard several bloodcurdling screams in the night. When he stepped out just now to take a look, he saw bloodstains on the ground that hadn't been washed clean."

A sharp hiss of breath could be heard.

"It's been years since Qingshan City saw something like this."

"Who exactly died?"

"Ah..."

Someone sighed, a hint of worry in their voice. "I'm afraid things are going to get chaotic again."

Listening to the patrons' chatter, Master Jin San fell deep into thought.

Common townsfolk like them didn't know much about these matters.

But a major event like last night's still left behind clues.

Master Jin San possessed a pair of perceptive eyes capable of seeing ghosts and spirits—a gift he had acquired during his youthful wanderings. When he stepped out at noon today, he had seen underworld deputies leading a flock of souls toward the City God Temple.

By chance, Master Jin San had also overheard fragments of conversation between the underworld deputies and a Wandering Deity.

"The dead are practically all outsiders."

"Yeah, probably assassins or something similar. They must have come for the King of Wei."

"I'll tell you what, these people were quite skilled in martial arts while alive. They were even stronger than the folks from our time."

"What's so strange about that? Martial artists have naturally grown stronger over the years."

"This King of Wei is also quite skilled at hiding his depths without a trace. So many assassins, and none could do a thing to him."

From this, Master Jin San managed to piece together the general situation.

His conclusion was that it was best to listen less and meddle less.

These were clearly matters he had no business getting involved in.

As it neared the afternoon mealtime, the noodle stand at the entrance of the tea house was set up once again.

The old man had hidden the entire night and was inevitably feeling restless at home. Taking advantage of the peace, he came out to busy himself, just to have something to do.

His stall had barely opened.

Chen Changsheng arrived right on his heels.

The difference this time was the woman by his side. She looked slightly older than him, and a plump Tabby Cat sat on her shoulder. The cat was very well-behaved—neither fussing nor running off.

"Old man, three bowls of noodles," Chen Changsheng said.

"I'll get them boiling right away." The old man looked at the two of them and asked, "Could this be your wife?"

Ruyi paused upon hearing this and said, "You've got it wrong, old uncle. I'm his niece. I call him Uncle."

"Ah!"

The old man froze in surprise.

Chen Changsheng smiled. "I just look young. I'm actually not that young anymore."

"Is that so?"

The old man hurriedly said, "Pardon my rudeness, pardon my rudeness. Ah, looking at you..."

"People often make that mistake. No harm done," Chen Changsheng said with a smile.

The old man nodded and quickly went back to work.

Ruyi blinked at Uncle Chen. Touching her own face, she asked, "Uncle Chen, have I gotten old?"

"Yes, yes, you're an old woman now," Chen Changsheng said.

Ruyi choked on her words before retorting, "I am not!"

Chen Changsheng laughed. "You're the one who asked."

Ruyi gave a soft snort and turned her head away.

Lihua leaped down from Ruyi's shoulder, sidled up against Chen Changsheng, and whispered, "Chen the Good Man's judgment is as sharp as ever."

"I heard that!"

Ruyi whipped her head back around and glared fiercely at Lihua.

Lihua's little body shuddered. It hurriedly shrank closer to Chen Changsheng and buried its head, acting as if that would make it invisible.

Chen Changsheng laughed. "Alright, alright. Lihua has no filter to begin with. Why bicker with it?"

Ruyi scoffed. "Uncle Chen, you have no idea how wild it's become. It used to be so well-behaved, but now the things it says could anger someone to death."

Lihua lifted its head slightly and muttered, "I learned it from Ruyi."

"Say that again!"

"..."

Lihua cast a wary glance at Ruyi, then shifted its bottom to shuffle even further away from her.

Ruyi said, "Don't think I won't beat you just because Uncle Chen is protecting you. Once you fall asleep, I'm going to slaughter you, stew you, and eat cat meat!"

Lihua trembled and declared, "Ruyi eats cat meat! Ruyi is not a good person!"

Ruyi scoffed coldly and ignored it.

Before long, the old man brought over three bowls of noodles.

Two people and one cat, one bowl each.

Seeing the cat lean over to eat the noodles, the old man couldn't hide his astonishment. "This cat eats noodles too?"

Chen Changsheng smiled. "Our cat is smart."

The old man blinked. "It is quite well-behaved."

All in all, watching it eat felt a bit strange, yet incredibly marvelous.

Eating noodles wasn't that strange in itself—many house cats ate them too. But the way this cat in front of him was eating... it seemed...

Awfully human-like.

"Oh."

A voice called out.

Chen Changsheng looked over, only to see Prince Wei walking straight toward them. He took a seat right across from Chen Changsheng.

Prince Wei chuckled. "We're quite fated, aren't we? Bumping into each other again."

Chen Changsheng gave him a look. "Good that we did, but let's not bump into each other next time."

Prince Wei didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I don't have the energy to bicker with you. I haven't eaten all day, and I'm starving."

"Old uncle, old uncle, hurry and boil a bowl of noodles for me. Make it a large portion. I'm starving to death."

"Coming right up!"

Chen Changsheng asked, "Have all those people been buried? I didn't see any commotion."

Prince Wei let out a scoff. "Everything was cleaned up this morning."

He paused and looked at the person beside Chen Changsheng. "And this young lady is...?"

Ruyi looked at Prince Wei and said, "Ruyi."

Prince Wei nodded and cupped his hands in greeting. "Heroine."

Ruyi paused upon hearing this. "How did you know?"

Prince Wei smiled. "I've heard people mention your name before. The only woman in the jianghu to bear the title of Spear Immortal. Seeing you in person truly is better than hearing about you a hundred times."

Ruyi frowned slightly and looked at Uncle Chen, as if asking who this man was.

"The one from the Prince's Manor," Chen Changsheng said.

Realization dawned on Ruyi, though she still found it strange. "A prince also comes to eat noodles at a street stand?"

It was no wonder this man knew so much.

He must have investigated everything beforehand.

He probably knew that Ruyi was originally from Qingshan City and had stayed by Chen Changsheng's side during those years.

Hearing this, Prince Wei laughed. "I'm used to eating here."

Chen Changsheng glanced at Prince Wei. "What exactly are you here for?"

How could there be such a coincidence every single time?

"What do you mean by that?" Prince Wei said. "I am simply here to eat noodles."

Chen Changsheng nodded. "Right, right, you're just here to eat noodles."

Prince Wei didn't respond to that.

Instead, he turned to look at Ruyi.

Noticing his strange gaze, Ruyi asked, "Why are you looking at me, Prince?"

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